Draft-gear.



" H. c. Palm.

DRAFT GEAR. 4 APPEICA'TON FILE-D DEC-6. HIS. V 1,248,399. p Panwi Nov. 21, 1917.

f y z sains-suur 2.

UNITED sTATEs PATENT OFFICE.

HERMAN C. PRIEBE, 0F BLUE ISLAND, ILLINOIS.

DRAFT-GEAR.

. Specification of Letters Patent. Patented NOV, 27, 1917,

y Application filed December 6, 1915. Serial No. 65,215.

To all whom it may concern.'

Be' it known that I, HERMAN C. PRIEBE, citizen of the United States, residing at Blue Island, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Draft- Gears, of ,which the following is a full, clear, concise, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings forming ay part of this specilication.

My invention relates to draft gears and has a number of objects and advantages in view.

The invention has for one of its objects the provision of a coupler butt attachable to the inner end of the shank of a standard coupler. The inner end face of the shank of astandard coupler'is provided with a hole communicating with the hollow interior of the coupler shank and into this hole I fit the shank of a horizontally slotted coupler butt. Thus the shank of a standard coupler may be provided with a slot formation added for the purpose of adapting it for engagement with the front or outer follower from which the coupler shank may be pulled but against which follower the coupler shank may be pushed and inthe slot of which coupler butt the front follower is movable in rounding curves and for other urposes. The invention has for another of its objects the formation of a coupler butt that isin flexible connection with the coupler shank that carries it which -dcsirably also has `relatively movable and sliding con' nection with the outer follower, this oonstruetion enabling the coupler shank to occupy varying positions with respect to its butt and also with respect to the outer follower engaged by its butt.

The invention also has for its object the provision of a preferably similar member constituting a preferably flexible part of a stop at the inner endr of the yoke and serving to engage the yoke in such a manner that the inner end of the yoke may have varying ositionswith respect to its inner abutment.

his construction at the .inner end of the yoke also enabjgs me to hold the inner end theyoke in' 'its'proper plane against the action of motidn resisting mechanism that may b e correlated with the coupler yoke.

Thdi'iinvention also has for its object the provision of a coupler yoke'afwhose sides are preferably disposed in substantially arallel reidcal tplanes instead of substantial y horizontal planes, by, means of mechanism which does not entail the employment of an inner key and the slotting of the center sills to accommodate such key.

I will explain my invention more fully by reference to the accompanying drawings lshowing the preferred embodiment thereof and in which Figure l` is a plan View, 'pars tially in section, Fig. 2 is a view in elevation, partially in section, on line 2 2 of Fig. l; Fig. 3 is a sectional view on line 3 3 of Fig. l; Fig. 4 is a perspective View of a yoke entering into the construction; Fig. 5 is, a view showing the construction of the center brace that is fastened to the center sills and which bears upon the bolster; and Fig. 6 is a perspective view of a fitting that is employed at the front and rear of the gear.

Like parts are indicated by similarcharacters of reference throughout the different figures.

The coupler l includes a shank 2, which is connected with la yoke structure in a manner later to be set forth, the sides of the yoke structure shown being in the form of 'straps Sthrough which openings 4; and 5 are pr0- vided for the reception of keys 6 and "I, the former of which constitutes a form o follower, the openings permittingthe ke s to move inwardly with respect to the yo when the coupler is subject to a suilcielit pushing strain. The keys also proj@ through openings' 8 and 9 in the Chee plates 10 and 11 which are secured to the" center sills 12 and 13, the openings 9 regiswr tering with the openings 5 and corresponding openings in the center sills when the gear is not under stress, the openings 8 similarly registering with the openings 4 and similar openings in the center sills.

Cotter pins 14 may be employed to pre- -vent the withdrawal of the keys from theslots in the center sills that receive them. The rounded opposed transverse edges of the follower 6 and yoke end 31 are received within semicylindrical pockets 15, 16 that are formed in the stems of rockers 17 and 18, there being outwardly diverging arms 19, 20, 21 and 22 between which the elements 6 and 31 are disposed as illustrated. The

rockers have direct engagement with each other and the opposed faces thereof are curved or cam shaped so that each rocker will co-act with the other and serve as a resistance' therefor to force the rockers `to swing; in a'f'vertical plane upon coupler Hfar as rocker has 4a -I'x'ose 27 that is curved upon-its top to have'rolling engagement with the bottom face of the spring seat and is curved on. its bottom to have rocking engagement with the rocker that it engages. When the gear is not under stress the nose upon each rocker serves to hold the other rocker in its lowermost positiomthe noses coperating to relieve the abutting faces of thev rockers as possible of pressure due to spring action.

The coupler butt 11 has an outsetting cylindrical stem 2S which is co-axial with. the coupler shank and passes through a hole in said shank, this hole being preferably of larger diameter than the stem so that the coupler butt may universally swing with respect to the stem to maintain its full engagement with the follower' 6 during the various Swingin movements of the coupler shank, the coup er butt being thus flexibly connected with the inner end of the coupler shank. The transverse Slot 12 in the coupler butt ermits the coupler butt to shift along the ollower 6 while maintaining full engagement Itherewith and also permits the coupler shank to move outwardly when thel outer follower 6 is held against its forward stops.

A similarly constructed andliexibly' connected but symmetrically arranged fitting 29 receives in its slot the inner end 31 of the yoke 3, the yokeA thus having sliding connection with the butt 29. The inner end 31 'constitutes' a member connecting the inner ends of the sidesV of the yoke. A stem 30 'projects inwardly (that is toward the center of the car) from the butt 29 and is loosely received within the recess 31 in the center brace 32'that bears upon the body bolster center plate 33, The center brace receives the bolster pin 34, the position of the center brace ,illustrated being somewhat unusual as the drawings are taken from a special construction, it being understood, however, that theinvent-ion is not 'to be limited to this special construction` The stem' receiving opening 31 is formed within an abutment 35, this abutment 35 cngagin the butt 29 and upon which' abutment the utt 29 may oscillate-'and slide, and in the event of wear liners may be employed or other adjusting means may be used to eiect compensation for. suchwe'ar. The center vbrace is also desirablyf'pi'ovidedwith oblong recesses 36 inA which portions of the inner end or-the' coupler yoke may be received. In the embodiment of the invention 'illustrated theecoupler yoke is provided with lugs 3s' that' are received within the transverse Yrecesses or slots 36, said lugs and recesses cooperating to maintain the inner part of the coupler yoke in a substantially horizontal'plane whereby the proper position of the inner part oil the coupler yoke is not disturbed by th'e rockers 17 and 18 and the spring mechanism -llbut is substantially maintained in the line of draft. Thus. the center brace 32 acts as a stop to. confine thc coupler oke to its proper plane. The end walls o the recesses 36 also act as stops to limit the inward movement of the coupler yoke, thereby coperating with the abutment By the construction now being described the use of keys at the inner end of the coupler yokes is avoided and the slotting of the center sills and side members of coupler yokes at the inner ends of the coupler yokes is likewise dispensed with since the center brace andthe construction of the coupler yokes illustrated afford the desired limit to the inward movevment of the coupler yokes while permitting the coupler yokes to have forward or' out- Ward movement when the couplers are subject to lsufficient pu1l.` While I have employed a center brace 32 that serves to receive the bolster pin I do not wish to be limited to a center `brace that performs this added function nor to any peculiar construction or other draft lug construction that performs the functions herein set forth.

The ,rockers 17 and 18 `are disposed between the sides of the yoke that serve. to maintain the rockers from displacement laterally of the gear when the rockers are not rocked upwardly. When the rockers are rocked upwardly, the upper parts thereof project above the coupler yoke and in order Certain structural characteristics hereinl shown are claimed in my' co-pending applications, Serial No. 28,66, filed May 17, 1915,

Serial No. 28,661, led May 17, 1915, rand Serial No. 59,333, filed November 3, 1915.

While I' have-herein shown and particu'- larly described the preferred embodiment of my invention I do notA wish to bellimited to the precise detailsof construction shown ras changes may readily be made withoutde- 'parting from the spirit of my inyention,

aving thus descri as new and desire ty ent the following d my invention Ie d secure by outer follower; and a coupler butt flexibly connected `with the inner end of the coupler` shank and having a transverse slot receiving said follower. y

2.` A draft gear including a coupler having a shank; an outer follower; a coupler butt having a stem received in the inner end of the coupler shank, this coupler butt hav ing a transverse slot in which the outer-fol lower may operate.

3. A draft gear including a coupler; a coupler yoke, said coupler yokehaving a member connecting the inner ends of the sides `Vof the coupler yoke; center sills between which the aforesaid gear parts are located; an abutment structure within the space between the center sills, this abutment structure having an element which is slotted and in the slotted portion of which the aforesaid inner end of the sides of the coupler oke o crates; and a butt loosely recelved y sai abutment structure and. having a slot formed therein receiving the connecting member.

4. A draft gear including a coupler; .a coupler yoke, said coupler yoke having an inner end joining the sides of the coupler yoke; an inner abutment; a/nd a flexibly mounted butt supported by the abutment having a slot formed therein receiving the inner end of the yoke.

In witness whereof, I hereunto subscribe" my name this third day of December, A. D.

HERMAN C. PRIEBE. Witnesses:

DWIGHT "B. vCaravan, E'rrA L. WHITE. 

